From picture-writing to the alphabet
Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The path of the alphabet
Script Dated to What it was like Proto-Sinaitic earliest inscriptions between the mid-1800s and mid-1500s BCE; scholars debate about 1850 or about 1550 BCE letters shaped like Egyptian hieroglyphs, used for a Semitic language; found near turquoise mines in Sinai; only partly deciphered Phoenician about 1050 BCE (a conventional date; the oldest inscriptions are from the 900s BCE) 22 letters, all for consonants; vowels were left out Greek the late 800s or early 700s BCE the first alphabet to write vowels as well as consonants; 24 letters became standard by the end of the 300s BCE Latin later, by way of the Etruscan alphabet in Italy the alphabet of the Romans, and the basis of the English alphabet How many letters did the Phoenician alphabet have, Tala asks?
- 22
- 24
- 26
- More than 1,000
The cell marked ? is blank. Zee's chart has a blank: what did the Greek alphabet add?
- Signs for whole words
- Letters for vowels
- Wedges pressed into clay
- Letters for consonants
The path of the alphabet
Script Dated to What it was like Proto-Sinaitic earliest inscriptions between the mid-1800s and mid-1500s BCE; scholars debate about 1850 or about 1550 BCE letters shaped like Egyptian hieroglyphs, used for a Semitic language; found near turquoise mines in Sinai; only partly deciphered Phoenician about 1050 BCE (a conventional date; the oldest inscriptions are from the 900s BCE) 22 letters, all for consonants; vowels were left out Greek the late 800s or early 700s BCE the first alphabet to write vowels as well as consonants; 24 letters became standard by the end of the 300s BCE Latin later, by way of the Etruscan alphabet in Italy the alphabet of the Romans, and the basis of the English alphabet How did the alphabet reach the Romans, Ari asks?
- From cuneiform
- By way of the Etruscan alphabet
- Straight from the Proto-Sinaitic letters
- From Chinese characters
Bo puts four scripts in order, earliest first. Which order is right?
- Latin, Greek, Phoenician, Proto-Sinaitic
- Greek, Phoenician, Latin, Proto-Sinaitic
- Phoenician, Proto-Sinaitic, Greek, Latin
- Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Greek, Latin
Which came just before the Greek alphabet, Esme asks?
- The Etruscan alphabet
- The Latin alphabet of Rome
- The Phoenician alphabet
- Chinese characters
From the Phoenician date of about 1050 BCE to the Greek alphabet in the late 800s or early 700s BCE, about how many years passed, Jun asks?
- About 200 to 300 years
- About 1,850 years
- Exactly 250 years
- About 20 years
Why does the chart give two dates for Proto-Sinaitic, Kira asks?
- It lasted just two years
- Scholars debate an early and a late date
- It was invented twice
- One date is a mistake
The chart calls 1050 BCE a conventional date for the Phoenician alphabet. What should Milo write?
- No one knows anything about it
- About 1050 BCE, a widely used date
- 1050 CE
- Exactly 1050 BCE
If English were written like Phoenician, how might the word cat be written, Pia asks?
- a
- cat
- tac
- ct
Why might adding vowel letters help readers of Greek, Ren asks?
- It turns letters into pictures
- Readers don't have to guess missing sounds
- It removes the consonants
- Words become harder to read